A SUCCESSFUL planning bid to build on Green Belt land in Kidlington will set a “dangerous precedent”, residents have warned.

Villagers raised concerns after plans for a new home on land behind Vicarage Road and a new access track across protected land were approved.

The plan, submitted by Pye Homes managing director Graham Flint, was approved by Cherwell District Council last month despite earlier advice from officers that it should be rejected.

It comes after several failed attempts by Pye Homes to get other protected land taken out of the Green Belt.

Swimming pool supply company owner Paul Webb, of Webbs Way, said he feared the decision could pave the way for more homes.

He said: “Essentially the access is over Green Belt land and we believe this sets a hugely dangerous precedent.

“Now that planning permission for this has been granted that leaves the council open to pressure from the developer.

“The potential for the developer is enormous, which is why they have spent so much time on this application.”

But Mr Flint has defended his plans, and said they were not part of a ploy to get permission for new homes in the area.

He said: “I want it literally as an access road to one property for me and my family and the access being proposed is a single track access which will be made of reinforced turf, not a hard surface.

“We are a development company, we do own the land and we have historically asked for it to be removed from the Green Belt, but it is well protected, and from my point of view, I want to live there, and I don’t want to have new houses on my doorstep.”

The application was approved by Cherwell District Council planning committee on October 31 after officers changed their recommendation.

They had initially been against the bid but supported it at the last minute.

They initially said that the proposed access would be an “unacceptable encroachment” into the Green Belt and for that reason recommended refusal.

But in the same report they said the recommendation could be subject to change.